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Bush gives McCain a boost on national security

US President George Bush addresses the aPhoto by Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images

It was supposed to be President Bush's glory
moment in his party's spotlight, full of tributes to his eight
years of leadership and cheers from grateful partisans, as he
passed the mantle to his would-be successor.

Instead, Bush's brief appearance Tuesday at the Republican
National Convention in Minnesota was essentially a footnote. He got
eight minutes via satellite hookup from a lonely White House podium
1,100 miles away. A Democrat-turned-independent, Sen. Joe
Lieberman, got the showcase final speaking slot.

"I know the hard choices that fall solely to a president," Bush told delegates, his image beamed before delegates on giant
video screens in the Xcel Energy Center. "John McCain's life has
prepared him to make those choices. He is ready to lead this
nation."

Bush was well received, but it was not a rousing send-off for
the man who, despite his unpopularity, somehow managed to keep
Democrats confounded with his veto power and more often than not
got his way.

US President George Bush addresses the RNCPhoto by Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images

Hurricane Gustav's landfall early Monday forced Bush to cancel
plans for a splashy convention appearance on the opening night of
the GOP convention. Despite dismal approval ratings that made a
Bush appearance something of a distraction or even potential
problem for McCain, all this was deemed Bush's due.

When McCain's team scaled back the convention lineup because of
Gustav, they had a chance to scale back the president's role, too.
And they took it.

Time to move forward.

Bush chose instead to reach back - to the campaign theme of
national security that worked for his campaigns and those of other
Republicans over the years.

"We live in a dangerous world," Bush said. "The man we need
is John McCain."

First lady Laura Bush speaks at the RNCPhoto by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Instead, the president put McCain's full-throated support of the
Iraq war front and center in his pitch for the GOP senator to
succeed him, and said that only McCain understands the lessons of
the Sept. 11 attacks in a way that makes him qualified to be
commander in chief.

The president referred to McCain as the "one senator above
all" who backed the U.S. campaign in the Iraq war - and Bush's
decision to send more U.S. troops into the fight - even as violence
spiraled out of control.

Though a welcome message to partisan delegates, this only served
to remind a skeptical broader public watching on TV about the war,
and McCain's link to it.

Bush offered McCain's constancy in the face of doubts and
criticism as a reason to support him. "That is the kind of courage
and vision we need in our next commander in chief," the president
said.

Former President George H.W. Bush at the RNCPhoto by Win McNamee/Getty Images

The president also emphasized McCain's impressive life story, as
a former Vietnam prisoner of war and a politician with a maverick
streak. Recounting McCain's tortuous time as a prisoner of war led
Bush to the most partisan barb of his short speech.

"Fellow citizens," Bush said, "if the Hanoi Hilton could not
break John McCain's resolve to do what is best for our country, you
be sure the angry left never will."

Bush's remarks were bracketed by his decidedly more popular
wife, Laura. She took the podium in the hall to introduce the
president's address, and spoke afterward as well. She played
defense for her husband's Oval Office record in the Oval Office,
tossing out statistics on everything from education gains to
fighting AIDS across the globe.

"You might call that change you can really believe in," the
first lady said, a clear poke at Obama's campaign slogan.

Bush aides acknowledged the president would have preferred to
take his turn in the convention limelight, while insisting he was
pleased to do whatever he could. The execution of his appearance
from afar was a bit awkward at times.

The crowd rose to its feet to applaud Laura Bush's introductory
remarks just as the president - apparently unaware of the clamor in
the hall - had started speaking on the screen. As a result, his
opening words were drowned out. On several other occasions, as
well, his words were lost when he continued talking over cheers in
the hall.

"I wish he came here in person," said Colorado delegate Alan
Duff. "You lose so much over the TV."

Still, Duff gave Bush high marks: "He knows what it takes to be
president and he told us why John McCain's up to the job. You can't
get a better recommendation than that."